Opening New Markets for America's Small Businesses
Remarks by the President to the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Renaissance Hotel
Washington, D.C.

2:45 P.M. EST

[ ... ]

I think something that will benefit our economy and help the small
business sector is to reform our immigration laws to help --
(applause.) I proposed a worker program here that says we can match a
willing foreign worker with an employer in America so long as an
American is not willing to do the job. Look, I know a lot of you are
wondering whether or not you're hiring somebody who you should be
hiring. And that's because the system is broken down. That's why you
wonder that. My attitude is, rather than have people live in the
shadows of our society, let's have an honest system. Let's say that if
you're -- if you need a worker, there's a way to help expedite your
search for somebody in our country. But if you can't find anybody, you
ought to be able to hire anybody you want. And therefore, we ought to
have a temporary worker card for people.

And it will help rout out the corruption and the fraud. You know
what I'm talking about. The paperwork, you don't know where it comes
from if you're hiring in the construction world. It doesn't make sense
to have a system where Border Patrol is kind of searching for workers
simply coming to our -- people coming to our country to make a living
for their families. They ought to be looking for terrorists and narco
traffickers, smugglers -- (applause.) And so a worker system would
take the burden off of many at our borders.

People often ask me, do you support amnesty? I don't. You see,
and the reason I don't is because I'm afraid it would further illegal
immigration, as well as rewards those who haven't lived to the law.
We've got a lot of honest people who are trying to become citizens of
the United States of America, who have stood in line for a long period
of time, and it doesn't seem that we ought to have a worker system that
allows somebody to cut in line. That's not fair. One of the things we
are in America is we're fair. And people should -- people who have
been in line shouldn't be penalized for having taken the legal route up
to now.

But one thing is for certain: We've got to respect people who are
in our country. We've got to treat them with decency. And when the
system is broke, we need to reform it. (Applause.)